A Biobehavioral/Cognitive Treatment for Stress, Depression, and Anxiety in Patients With Stage IV Lung Cancer

Stress and Immunity in Lung Cancer Patients: Pilot Test of a Biobehavioral/Cognitive (ABC) Treatment for Stress, Depression, and Anxiety

This phase IIb trial studies the effect of a biobehavioral/cognitive (ABC) treatment on stress, depression, and anxiety in patients with stage IV lung cancer. Advanced lung cancer and stress or depression are associated with increased inflammation and decreased immunity. ABC is a combination of biobehavioral intervention, which studies the interaction between behavioral and biological processes, and cognitive therapy for the treatment for anxiety and depressive disorders. Giving ABC during lung cancer treatment may reduce stress, depression, and anxiety, and improve patients' quality of life and health.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stage IVA Lung Cancer AJCC v8; Stage IVB Lung Cancer AJCC v8; Advanced Lung Carcinoma; Metastatic Lung Carcinoma; Stage IV Lung Cancer AJCC v8
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Behavioral, Psychological or Informational Intervention; Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Other: Electronic Health Record Review; Other: Informational Intervention; Other: Survey Administration

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Conduct a phase IIb pilot of a biobehavioral/cognitive (ABC) therapy intervention for patients with advanced (stage IV) lung cancer (N=40) with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and determine feasibility and treatment adherence.

II. Mode of delivery (in person, virtual), frequency of contact, and duration of contacts are studied to identify efficiencies to achieve clinical change.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Pre/post treatment change on patient reported outcomes (PROs) for depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, cancer specific stress, and physical symptoms.

II. Compare patients' ABC outcomes to responses of a matched sample (n=40) of patients previously accrued to BLCIO (Beating Lung Cancer in Ohio; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03199651) completing the same measures at equivalent time points using archival, deidentified data.

TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate effects of ABC on prognostic cell numbers/ratios (i.e., neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, and advanced lung cancer inflammation indices) from patients pre to post ABC and comparable time points for the matched BLCIO sample using electronic medical record (eMR) data.

II. To evaluate effects of ABC on immunity, conducting correlative studies of inflammation, immune suppressive cells, and downstream effects on T- and natural killer (NK) cell function, using serum samples from ABC patients drawn at accrual, prior to cancer treatment, and 1 and 2 months during treatment.

OUTLINE:

INTENSIVE I PHASE: Patients participate in ABC sessions consisting of weekly, hour-long sessions for 10 weeks.

INTENSIVE II PHASE: Patients not achieving full remission after the first 10 weeks receive 4 additional weekly sessions.

MAINTENANCE PHASE (Optional): Patients may participate in 1 ABC session monthly for 4 months. These maintenance sessions serve as "booster" sessions.

Patients' medical records are reviewed, and will receive a patient guidebook to provide session-by-session descriptions to assist the patient to focus on the content and homework assignment completion. Patients also complete surveys at pre-treatment, every 2 months during cancer treatment, at post-treatment, and at 1 and 2 months follow-up. Patients also undergo blood collection at the time of initial diagnostic work-up, and at protocol weeks 5, 10, and 15.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
      • Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals diagnosed with advanced (stage IV) lung cancer with diagnosis and staging confirmed by pathology report
• Moderate to severe symptoms of depression (>= 8 on Patients Health Questionaire-9) and/or moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety (>= 10 on Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; GAD-7)
• English-speaking
• Willingness to provide access to medical records, provide biospecimens, and responses to patient reported outcome (PRO) assessments
• Ability to understand and willingness to sign an informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients to be treated with definitive chemo-radiotherapy
• Presence of untreated brain metastases
• Previous lung cancer diagnosis
• Presence of disabling hearing, vision, or impairing psychiatric conditions (e.g., psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance abuse) preventing consent or completion of self-report measures in English
• Imminent risk of suicide that precludes outpatient treatment
• Currently receiving psychological treatment/counseling

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Supportive care (ABC session, surveys, biospecimen collection); Phase 1 of the intervention (10 weeks) will follow the following agenda: 1) Overview and progressive muscle relaxation, 2) Seeking and asking for disease-related and treatment-related information, 3) Problem solving skills, 4) Breathing techniques and sleep hygiene, 5) Assertive communication skills, 6) Identifying social network, 7) Asking for support, 8) Further information on social support, 9) Physical activity, and 10) Review of major topics, transition. Phase 2 of the intervention (4 weeks) which will be completed only by patients who do not experience remission in depressive symptoms by the end of phase 1, will follow the following agenda: 1) Identifying negative thoughts and problematic thinking patterns, 2) Generating alternative thoughts, 3) Behavioral activation, and 4) Review and wrap-up, transition to optional maintenance. Each session in Phase 1 and Phase 2 occurs once per week, for 60 minutes each. Maintenance sessions occur monthly, 60 minutes each.

Other: Behavioral, Psychological or Informational Intervention; Participate in ABC session; Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Undergo blood sample collection; Other Names: Biological Sample Collection; Biospecimen Collected; Other: Electronic Health Record Review; Medical records reviewed; Other: Informational Intervention; Receive patient guidebook; Other: Survey Administration; Complete surveys

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Acceptability, measured by Patient Satisfaction Survey (PSS)	Descriptive statistics of Patient Satisfaction Survey scores will examine if patient satisfaction scores for a biobehavioral/cognitive (ABC) treatment are "mostly satisfied." The PSS is a 15-item measure which asks patients to rate each ABC intervention component on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("not helpful at all") to 4 ("very helpful). Items are summed and averaged. An average score of 3 or higher is considered to represent treatment satisfaction.	Up to 2 months post-treatment
Retention	Descriptive statistics of patient enrollment and retention rate for ABC will also be used. Patient enrollment will be measured by counting the number of patients who sign consent and enroll onto the trial. Retention will be measured by calculating the number of patients who complete 7 of 14 sessions (50%).	Baseline up to 2 months post-treatment
Change of depressive symptoms using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)	Dependent-samples t-tests will examine feasibility by testing change of depressive symptoms via the PHQ-9 from pre- to post-treatment. The PHQ-9 scores can range from 0 to 27, with higher scores indicating more severe depression.	Baseline up to 2 months post-treatment
Change of anxiety symptoms using Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7)	Dependent-samples t-tests will examine feasibility by testing change of anxiety symptoms via the GAD-7 from pre- to post-treatment. The GAD-7 scores can range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety.	Baseline up to 2 months post-treatment
Biospecimen analysis: Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR)	Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) will be calculated by collecting neutrophil count and lymphocyte count from laboratory tests, and dividing neutrophil by lymphocyte count to receive the ratio. This will be conducted at 4 time points: baseline, week 5, week 10, and week 15. Changes in NLR over time will be evaluated using longitudinal mixed models within a joint modeling framework.	Baseline to Week 15
Biospecimen analysis: Platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR)	Platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) will be calculated by collecting platelet count and lymphocyte count from laboratory tests, and dividing platelets by lymphocyte count to receive the ratio. This will be conducted at 4 time points: baseline, week 5, week 10, and week 15. Changes in PLR over time will be evaluated using longitudinal mixed models within a joint modeling framework.	Baseline to Week 15
Biospecimen analysis: Inflammation (Interleukin-6)	Inflammation will be calculated by conducting the Interleukin-6 (IL-6) immunoassay on patient blood samples. This will be conducted at 4 time points: baseline, week 5, week 10, and week 15. Changes in NLR over time will be evaluated using longitudinal mixed models within a joint modeling framework.	Baseline to Week 15

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Barbara Andersen, PhD, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• The Jamesline

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 29, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 18, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): April 22, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 23, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2023
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Lung Diseases; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Carcinoma
• Other Study ID Numbers: OSU-20339; NCI-2020-08120 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No